Love Teams from TV to Reality

Filipinos have always favored the concept of kilig. This Filipino-born term can be translated as the feeling of romantic thrill/excitement. In order to promote this concept, the Philippine media introduced the idea of love teams. A love team is a romantic showbiz pairing between two actors. If we compare this to Western media, it is the equivalent of shipping, where the relationship endorses fan service. But unlike the western version, this differs because a love team does not only apply to the fictional characters of a particular series, or film. But instead, it ships the two actors together. This concept dates back to the 1920s where the Philippine film industry was starting to flourish and on the road to development. Back then when movies were still silent, the tandem of Gregorio Fernandez and Mary Walter shaped and pioneered the love team notion.

An element that is unique to loveteams is that they are identified through portmanteaus of the couple’s names. They are also known as ship names. An example is Liza Soberano and Enrique Gil: LizQuen, Maine Mendoza and Alden Richards: AlDub and one of the newer ships, DonBelle: Belle Mariano and Donny Pangilinan.

Not only does this system boost the acting career of the lovebirds but it boosts affects their real feelings towards each other. The Philippine entertainment industry used loveteams as a strategy to easily captivate the fans. Every film, series, commercials, or public project they do results in more time together. This can open opportunities to real feelings outside of acting that can develop. 

Fandoms of a certain pairing usually wish the relationship to become legitimate in real life and not just for the show online. Because the chemistry between the two feels genuine, the audience feels more kilig and they develop personal headcanons about the ship. Here are some love teams that started out as media tandems and got together at one point. (Hopefully, the relationship lasts. May Forever ba?)

Popular Filipino Love Teams

ShaGab: Sharon Cuneta & Gabby Conception

Sharon Cuneta and Gabby Concepcion starred in the 1981 film, Dear Heart. The pairing continued co-starring in films like P.S. I Love You (1981) and Dapat Ka Bang Mahalin? (1984). The romantic feelings grew to be true and mutual as they eventually got married on 1984. The news of the breakup got fans feeling blue. In 1987, Cuneta and Concepcion legally separated.

JoshLia: Julia Baretto & Joshua Garcia

Another famous love team features Julia Baretto and Joshua Garcia. Their earliest projects together dates back to 2016 in the film Vince And Kath And James. Fans express their happiness as the couple finally becomes official in 2017. However later in 2019, the couple announces that they’re now “best friends. The two reunite in a Moira’s “Paubaya” video.

KathNiel: Kathryn Bernardo & Daniel Padilla

How can I write a blog about love team without including one one the most phenomenal and sought-after pairs in the Philippine industry. KathNiel of Kathryn Bernardo and Daniel Padilla is a love team that is still going strong until today. They first appeared on a teleserye called Growing Up in 2010. And both their careers and relationships started growing from there. They confirmed their status from the conference of their movie “The hows of us” certifying they have been together for more than five years.

Based on the examples given above, some of the couples can go on their separate ways in the future. We shouldn’t treat artists as toys we play in our heads for they are also human and are capable of their own feelings. By nature, our culture is known to be very active on social media and we cannot avoid posting our own emotions if a certain loveteam’s ‘“storyline“ doesn’t go as planned like in our fantasies. The duo doesn’t deserve extreme amounts of backlash for expressing their genuine feelings. 

Wrapping Up

At the end of the day, we the Filipino mass, are just fans and nothing more than that. People need to realize that we do not take control of other people’s lives and more importantly in terms of relationships between showbiz. Stans can daydream all they want about their favorite pairing getting together but a friendly reminder that there is a border. As long as you are being respectful of their personal lives and not forcing the troupe, friendly shipping is okay. If the love team does get together, then great! But if they openly come out as to just being friends, we openly should accept that fact.